USA > New Hampshire > Sketches of the history of New-Hampshire, from its settlement in 1623, to 1833: comprising notices of the memorable events and interesting incidents of a period of two hundred and ten years > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
Between Gen. Sullivan and Mr. Langdon subsisted a sort of rivalry, not strictly political, but rather personal. Each of these distinguished men had a numerous circle of friends, who gave him a decided preference for the Chief Magistracy ; there was of course, after the resignation of the venerable President
th
ci
0 I
C
0 a P
S la
155
PERIOD IX .- 1784-1805.
1786.]
Weare, a division at the Elections, which resulted sometimes in favor of one and sometimes of the other of these candi- dates. Mr. Langdon, whose religious principles made him to a part of the community the more acceptable of the two, was chosen President of the State this year. Though the revolu- tion had rescued us from foreign oppression, the return of peace found the United States destitute of an efficient General Gov- ernment ; burdened with a debt of more than forty millions ; possessed of only a small quantity of the precious metals ; and enfeebled by the excessive exertions which had been deman- ded by the war. Congress found it necessary to raise large supplies of money to satisfy the public creditors ; but as they wanted the power to enforce their requisitions, some of the States did almost nothing, while others made every effort to comply. An excessive importation of foreign goods drained the country of specie, and it became almost impossible to procure the means of paying either public taxes or private debts. Conventions of Delegates were holden for the purpose of deliberating on the means of relief; multitudes became clamorous for an emission by the Legislature, of paper money, to be loaned to individuals on the security of real estate. By the wiser part of the community it was argued, and well argued, that there was already in circulation a vast amount of depreciated paper ; and that a new emission would inevitably become depreciated, and aggravate an evil, which only indus- try, frugality, and patience could cure. To the taste of the looser and less discerning portion of the community, who wanted to get money by a quicker process than that of hard labor, these remedies were not congenial-they were too slow of operation. To relieve as far as possible the difficulty, the Legislature passed a "Tender Act," providing that when any debtor should tender to his creditor, in satisfaction of an exe- cution for debt, a sufficient amount of property either real or personal, the creditor should receive it at the appraisal of men, or suspend the levying of his Execution. This act gave debtors a breathing time ; but as it could not make money plenty, com- plaints continued to be made.
Gen. Sullivan was elected to the Chair in 1786. Distress and discontent, occasioned by heavy taxes and extreme scar- city of money, rapidly increased ; and in Massachusetts broke out into an open and dangerous insurrection headed by? Daniel Shays, which was not quelled without the intervention of a large military force, and the loss of a few lives. New-Hamp- shire was not entirely exempt from civil commotion. During the session of the Legislature in September, a body of two
156
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1787.
hundred armed men, some from Cheshire, but most of them from the western part of Rockingham County, marched to Exeter, surrounded the house in which the Legislature was sitting, and with menaces required a compliance with their demands. These were sufficiently wild and extravagant, including not only an emission of paper money, but a release of debts, and an equal distribution of property. President Sul- livan, in a calm address, represented to them the folly and danger of their conduct ; but they were not to be reasoned with, and held the Legislature prisoners till evening. In attempting to pass out of the house, the President was stopped by the mob and treated even with rudeness. At twilight the citizens of Exeter, incensed at their audacity, made some demonstra- tions of attacking them ; on which they retreated to an emi- nence a mile distant, and encamped for the night. Their retreat liberated the Legislature, who declared them to be in rebellion, and authorized the President to call in the militia to suppress the insurrection. At the dawning of the next morning Gen. Sullivan appeared in the street, mounted, and in full uniform ; a body of militia from the neighboring towns soon poured into the place, whom he formed in martial array, and led to attack the insurgents. On arriving near their encampment, Gen. Cilley with a troop of horse made a rapid charge upon them ; they were instantly broken, and fled without firing a gun .- The leaders, of whom several were seized on the spot, were pardoned on promises of submission and good behaviour. Some of them, being members of Churches, were required by those Churches, to make public confession of their guilt in rebelling against government. Thus happily was the insur- rection put down without the shedding of a drop of blood .- The ostensible leader of the insurgents was a man from Kingston ; the prime movers however, of whom one or two were members of the Legislature,took good care for their own safety by keeping themselves behind the curtain.
Early in 1787, the long vexed and engrossing question of a new issue of paper money was submitted to the people in town meetings, and the majority had the good sense and integ- rity to vote against the measure. After this decision, the dissatisfaction and clamor gradually subsided; though the pecuniary embarrassments of the country continued to exist for a time longer. The public securities, or certificates of debts due from government to individuals, were excessively depreciated ; many revolutionarry officers and soldiers,driven by pinching want to sell them, sacrificed a large proportion of
th en me da me Jo th
is h 8 W A S
a
t
157
PERIOD IX .- 1784-1805.
1787.]
their nominal value. They went into the hands of speculators, who afterwards realized every cent of their claims.
It had been a question long agitated, wliat were the western limits of the Masonian patent? The Masonian proprietors had always contended for a curve line, to correspond with the direction of the sea-coast ; and according to a survey made for them by Fletcher in 1768, this line began near the southwestern corner of Fitzwilliam, and passed along on the western lines of Fitzwilliam, Marlborough, Stoddard and Washington, to Sunapee Lake ; tlience on the lines of New-London, Wilmot, through Orange and Hebron to Plymouth ; and thence through Holderness, Sandwich and Burton, to Conway, on the borders of Maine. After the Revolutionary war, the grantees of some lands with which this line interfered, petitioned the Legislature to decide the question : the Masonian proprietors at the same time bringing in a petition on their part, that the line run by Fletcher might be established. It was finally determined by the Legislature, that a survey should be made of a distance of sixty miles from the sea on the south and east lines of the State, and that from the end of one of these lines of sixty miles to the end of the other, a straight line should be run, which should be established as the head line or western limit of the patent. This was run in 1787; the line extended from a point in the town of Rindge to a point on the boundary of Maine, a few miles north of Saco river. Between the straight and the curve line was a considerable territory, for the un- granted portions of which the Masonian proprietors were required to pay the State a considerable sum. During these transactions, the heirs of Allen revived their claim, after it had lain dormant about seventy years ; but afterwards comprom- ised their dispute with the Masonian proprictors ;- and those harrassing controversies about land-titles, which at times had agitated the State for a period of an hundred and thirty years, were happily put to rest. The principal Agent in effecting the adjustment between the Masonian proprietors and the lieirs of Allen, and also between the Masonian proprietors and the State, was John Pierce Esq. of Portsmouth.
So apparent were the defects of the old Confederation of the States, and so urgent the necessity of establishing a more energetic General Government, competent to regulate com- merce and raise a revenue by imposts, that on the recommen- dation of Virginia, twelve of the States elected Delegates to meet in Convention and form a new Federal Constitution .- John Langdon and Nicolas Gilman were the delegates from this State. The Convention, consisting of the venerable 0
158
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1788.
Statesmen and patriots of the Revolution, met at Philadelphia in May, and elected Washington as their President. After a long and laborious session, having to reconcile many conflicting interests, and to balance the concessions of the different sec- tions of the country, they formed the present Constitution of the United States. It was to be submitted to Conventions, to be called in the several States to decide on its adoption or rejection ; and if ratified by nine States, it was to go into op- eration. So nearly were its advocates and opponents balanced, that for some time its fate hung in suspense. The States which ratified it proposed many amendments, some of which were adopted; and the majority in its favor was in some instances extremely small.
The Convention elected in New-Hampshire to decide the great question of ratifying or rejecting the Federal Constitu- tion, met at Exeter in February, 1788. They appointed Gen. Sullivan to be their President, and the Hon. John Calfe, Sec- retary. This respectable body included most of the eminent men of the State-in the list of its members are found the names of Langdon, Pickering, Bartlett, John T. Gilman, Atherton, Parker, Bellows, West, Livermore, and Badger .- The debates ran high; Sullivan, Langdon, Pickering, and Livermore, were the principal speakers in favor of the ratifi- cation ; while the leading opponents were Atherton of Amherst and Parker of Jaffrey. So dubious was the result, that the friends of the Constitution, afraid to risk a decision at that time, plead for an adjournment, in the hope that further discussion among the people would work a favorable change in public opinion. Happily for the community the motion prevailed ; had the question on the ratification been taken at the first session of the Convention, it had inevitably been lost. During the recess, the Constitution continued to be the stand- ing topic of earnest discussion in town and neighborhood meetings ; many changes were wrought in its favor ; some towns who had instructed their Delegates to oppose the ratifi- cation, recalled those instructions, and gave others of an opposite character. In the mean time the Conventions of eight States had declared their ratification. The adjourned meeting of the New-Hampshire Convention, holden at Con- cord in June, continued only four days. Many amendments were proposed and accepted ; the adoption of which by the other States, the opponents wished to make an indispensable condition of the validity of the ratification on the part of this State : but the advocates of the Constitution urged an uncon- ditional ratification, accompanied with a mere recommendation
gr cat Ea Si th de of oth TH SAI
di to it
I C 8 D f
i f
St th
st d
159
PERIOD IX .- 1784-1805.
1788.]
of. these amendments. Fearing that the decision might be against them, the opponents in their turn urged, but ineffectu- ally, another adjournment. On the last day of the session, the momentous question was taken. "While the Secretary was calling over the names of the members and recording their votes, there was a death-like silence-every bosom throbbed with anxious expectation." The result was 57 votes for the ratification, and 46 against it, giving a majority of eleven in its favor.
As an index of the state of popular feeling existing at the time, it will be not uninteresting to state, that during the ses- sion the village of Concord was thronged with visitants, and the galleries of the Church in which the Convention met, crowded with spectators-listening to the debates, and await- ing with the deepest anxiety the final decision. Emissaries from other States attended, for the purpose of observing the course of events, and of influencing, if possible, the result .- Immense speculations had been made in Continental Certifi- cates, by purchases from the original holders, the officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army ; and the purchasers, a numerous and powerful body, were well aware that their fortunes depended on the ratification or rejection of the Con- stitution. Another body of men, still more numerous, felt the deepest anxiety for its fate, from no other motives than honest convictions of expediency, and patriotic zeal for the public good. Such indeed was the excitement of the popular mind, that on the declaration of the vote, messengers flew in all directions. Intelligence was immediately sent by an express to New-York, whose Convention was then in session, and where the result was extremely doubtful. The reception of it had an important influence on the decision of that State.
The ratification by New-Hampshire, being that of a ninth State, and completing, as it did, the number necessary to put the Constitution in operation, excited throughout the country a thrill of joy. At Portsmouthi, the event was celebrated by a grand procession, and other demonstrations of popular gratifi- cation. In the solemn Act of Ratification the Convention say, "Acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, in affording to the people of the United States an opportunity in the course of his Provi- dence, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud or surprise, of entering into an explicit and solemn compact with each other, WE DO IN THE NAME AND BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE, ASSENT TO AND RATIFY THE SAID CONSTITUTION," Two other States soon added their
160
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1789.
ratifications. Rhode-Island and North Carolina for some time withheld their's ; but at last they followed the example of the other States, thus completing the Union of members of the American family. It is honorable to the patriotism of the ori- ginal opponents of the Federal Constitution, that after the final question was taken, many of them came forward with the declaration, that though it was not what they wished, yet as the majority had decided in its favor, they were determined to give it their cordial support.
Gen. Sullivan was succeeded in the Presidency of the State in 1788 by Mr. Langdon. In the course of the year, persons were elected to represent New-Hampshire in the first Con- gress under the new Federal Constitution. John Langdon and Paine Wingate were chosen Senators by the Legislature ; Samuel Livermore, Abiel Foster, and Nicolas Gilman were elected Representatives by the people. Geo. Washington was chosen President of the United States by the unanimous vote of the Electoral Colleges, and the first Congress met in the city of New-York on the 4th of March, 1789. The adminis- tration of Washington soon effected a revival of public credit, a rapid extension of commerce, the provision of a competent revenue, and the rapid advance of the nation in whatever ex- alts or adorns society. Under the returning tide of national prosperity, the angry controversies that had grown out of the discussion of the Constitution, were quietly submerged. Mr. Langdon having been called to a seat in the national councils, Gen. Sullivan was again elected President of the State in 1789. In this last year of his administration, he had the pleas- ure of welcoming Gen. Washington, who came to the New- England States on a tour of observation, and extended his journey to Portsmouth. Both the government and the citizens of New-Hampshire received him in the most affectionate manner, and omitted no demonstrations of their veneration for the Father of his country. To his former associates in arms, who were enthusiastically attached to him, an interview with their old Commander was in the highest degree grateful.
The attention of public-spirited individuals began to be drawn at this period to the importance of improving the navi- gation of the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers. In the course of a few succeeding years, the excavation of the Middlesex canal, connecting the waters of the Merrimac with those of Boston harbor, was commenced ; and several short canals, furnishing a passage for boats around the principal falls of the two rivers, were undertaken and prosecuted with spirit. Of the citizens of New-Hampshire who were the efficient pro-
p
n h th th W i
b
t
0 0 b r 1 r b
€ t r
p
p W W pl
161
PERIOD IX .- 1784-1805.
1709.]
moters of these useful improvements, the names of Samuel Blodget of Manchester and William Page of Charlestown must be placed at the head of the catalogue.
President Sullivan having been appointed Judge of the United States' District Court, the voice of the people at the election of 1790 called to the Chair Josiah Bartlett of Kings- ton, who retained the Chief Magistracy almost four years. At his first election his competitor was Mr. Pickering, whom he soon afterwards appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court-an office for which he possessed superior qualifications. The census of this year gave the United States a population of almost four millions, of whom 142,000 were in New-Hamp- shire : a result exhibiting an increase, notwithstanding the heavy losses occasioned by the revolutionary war, of almost 60,000 in the preceding fifteen years ; and indicating a great extension of new settlements. Already had the spreading tide of population reached the wild recesses of the White mountains. At a considerable distance from any other human habitation, Rosebrook had planted himself in the forest near the Notch, where he braved the perils of the wilderness, and brought under cultivation a large farm.
No small share of suffering fell to the lot of these pioneers of cultivation and improvement. Instances were not wanting of their children being lost in the woods, and never found ; or being torn by wild beasts. A case of the former kind occur- red in Temple, and no certain discovery of the fate of the lost child was ever made. An instance of the latter kind had recently taken place in Moultonborough ; and another, long before, at a plantation on Suncook river, the circumstances of which were deeply affecting. A man being at work in a meadow, his son, a little boy eight years old, was sent to call him to dinner. While the father returned home by one path, the son took another. He did not arrive ; after waiting awhile, the father went to find him, and had not gone far till he saw with horror a bear start up among the bushes, with the bleed- ing corpse of the boy between his teeth ! "One who has exten- sively seen," says Dr. Dwight, "the efforts of the New-England people in colonizing new countries, cannot fail of being forcibly struck by their enterprise, industry, and perseverance. I have passed the dwellings of several hundred thousands of these people, erected on grounds which in 1760 were an absolute wilderness. A large part of these tracts they have converted into fruitful fields, surrounded it with enclosures, planted it with orchards, and beautified it with comfortable, and in many places, handsome houses. Considerable tracts I have traced
O*
162
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1790.
through their whole progress from a desert to a garden .- Towns and villages rise up in the retreats of bears and wolves ; and Churches assemble for the worship of God the numerous inhabitants. Schools and Colleges enlighten the young mind with the rudiments, and in many instances with the higher attainments of knowledge. Man sees his race multiplying beyond all customary calculation, in the midst of blessings obtained without fraud, without oppression and without blood."
In the general prosperity of the country at this period, New-England largely participated. Her ships visited almost every clime, her adventurous mariners began to pursue the whales into the most distant parts of the great Pacific, and not a few of her sons circumnavigated the globe.
The encouragement and regulation of schools engaged the attention of the Legislature. From the early periods of their history, the people of New-Hampshire had taken a deep in- terest in the subject of education. A law was passed as ear- ly as 1693, requiring each town, with the exception of Dover, during the war then raging, to provide a school-master ; an- other in 1719 required each town of fifty or more house- holders, to be constantly provided with a school-master, to teach reading and writing ; and towns of 100 house-holders, to support a grammar school, to be kept by "some discreet person of good conversation, well instructed in the tongues." These laws accomplished much good ; but imperious necessi- ty sometimes rendered them inoperative. Of the new towns, many contained less than fifty house holders, and others of greater population were often led by the distresses of war to petition for exemption from the obligation to support a school. Within the memory of some aged persons now living, many children received all their instruction at home-learning to write in some instances on birch bark. The New-England Primer, the Psalter, and the Testament were the only school books ; there was no book on Arithmetic ; the teachers, to borrow the current phrase, "set sums" and explained the rules as they could. Dilworth's Spelling Book was not in- troduced till about the year 1770. In some towns professed teachers were not attainable, or the people were unable to pay them, and the schools were taught after a fashion by the heads of families in rotation. Soon after the revolutionary war, English Grammar began to be introduced into the primary schools, and at a later period, Geography. In the last year of President Sullivan's administration, the former laws in relation to the subject were repealed, and a new act was passed, au-
the tur
n y C tr f c ir 0 el to re th th Ot pe
163
PERIOD IX .- 1784-1805.
1791.]
thorizing the Selectmen of the several towns to assess the in- habitants, at the rate of five pounds for every twenty shillings paid by them on their proportion of a State tax of £1000 .- Another law, enacted in 1791, required an assessment of sev- en pounds ten shillings on every twenty shillings of the pro- portion. A subsequent law fixed the assessment at ninety dollars on every dollar of the proportion paid by a town to- wards a State tax of $1000-the result being an annual income of $90,000 for the whole State, applicable to the support of cominon schools.
For the purposes of diffusing medical knowledge, and of suppressing quackery, by preventing unqualified persons from practising Medicine and Surgery, the New-Hampshire Medi- cal Society was incorporated in 1791. Its members are of three grades : Honorary Members, Fellows and Associates .- The general society consists of the two former grades, while the Associates belong to the District Societies, of which there are six. A person must have been a practicioner of medicine two years before he can be elected an Associate, and every Associate is eligible to the grade of a Fellow. Gov. Bartlett, who was a Physician, was the first President of the Society. It has had a salutary influence in raising the standard of med- ical qualfications, and elevating the profession to its present respectable state. Another indication of the progress of knowledge is found in the fact, that the condition of Dart- mouth College was now become flourishing. For a series of years, the difficulties attendent on the revolutionary war had checked its prosperity ; some of its students, impelled by pa- triotic feelings, had exchanged the shade of academic bowers for the tented field ; and others, who would gladly have be- come students, had been discouraged by the distressed and impoverished state of the country. After the war, the visit of President Wheelock to Europe-the erection of a new and elegant college edifice-tlie benefactions of enlightened indi- viduals-and the patronage of the Government, all conspired to give the College an impulse, which placed it among the most respectable literary Institutions of New-England.
The extension at this time of commercial business required the establishment of a bank, and led to the incorporation of the New-Hampshire Bank at Portsmouth, the first in the State. Other banking Institutions have since been formed, at various periods, in all the counties.
After the expiration of seven years from the adoption of the State Constitution, a Convention of Delegates met in Au- tumn for the purpose of revising it. They elected the Hon.
164
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
11792.
Samuel Livermore, President, and John Calfe, Secretary ; and having made some progress in the revision, adjourned to Feb- ruary, 1792. At the adjourned session, the President being ab- sent from the State, Judge Pickering was chosen President pro tem. Among the attempted alterations, were the erasure of the sixth article of the Bill of Rights; the substitution of January for June, as the period of the annual organization of the government ; the enlargement of the Senate from twelve to fifteen members, and the reduction of the number of Rep- resentatives to sixty ; the erasure of the clause which requires members of the Legislature to profess themselves to be of the Protestant religion ; and, singularly as it may strike us, the exclusion of Attorneys at Law from a seat in either branch of the Legislature. All these propositions failed. Some al- terations, not very important, were however adopted ; a part of which the people subsequently ratified, and rejected oth- ers. At a third session of the Convention in May, the Con- stitution was brought to its present form. For the sake of readily distinguishing the office from that of President of the United States, and of conforming to the usage of the other States, the title of the Chief Magistrate of the State was changed from President to Governor. The wisdom and .ex- cellence of the great principles of this Charter of our Rights, are strikingly evinced by the fact, that whenever the ques- tion of a revision has since been submitted to the people, a great majority have given a decided negative. At the Pres- idential election near the close of the year, Washington re- ceived a second unanimous vote, and was inaugurated in the following March for another term of four years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.